


love, present tense

by ohnonnie



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Temporary Character Death, brief appearances from merle magnus & lucretia, tfw you & your gf are a tree for a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-05 21:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14627598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohnonnie/pseuds/ohnonnie
Summary: A peaceful period of being a tree and making out with her tree girlfriend sounds good to her.





	love, present tense

**Author's Note:**

> written for the femslash language of flowers prompt 'poppy', which apparently symbolizes restful recovery, peace in death, resurrection & eternal life.
> 
> i wasn't entirely sure what the process of hurley & sloane become dryads was or if that was ever clarified, so i might have taken some liberties, idk.

“Wow, so, uh,” Hurley says, bewildered, “We’re in a tree. That’s a thing.”

“Yeah,” Sloane says, her voice distant. She’s part of the tree, like Hurley, skin now wood and hair blossom, but Hurley can still see the guilt and the wariness in her expression.

“I’m not mad, you know,” Hurley says, gingerly, edging closer to her. “Actually, no scratch that, I am kinda mad at you, but only because you should have told me, Sloane. We coulda handled it together.”

The ‘part of a tree’ thing apparently is taking a backseat for now, because Hurley’s first priority at the moment is making this right. There’s clearly some communication issues here and, gods, they’ve been given a second chance at life. Now feels like an appropriate time for uncomfortable conversations about emotions and shit.

“Didn’t wanna drag you into it,” Sloane mutters, but she’s relaxed a bit.

“Just like you didn’t want to drag me into an extremely dangerous and illegal battlewagon racing career, huh? Oh wait.”

Sloane huffs out a laugh, a fond mix of amusement and frustration.

“That’s different, _way_ different,” she says. “The Gaia Sash was— dangerous.”

“No, really,” Hurley deadpans. “Look, Sloane, we were a team. And I. I love you, okay?”

“Love, present tense?” Sloane says and Hurley, used to seeing her mostly with her mask on, is struck dumb by the hope curling at the side of her mouth, an almost smile that pushes Hurley forward to kiss it.

Sloane freezes and then relaxes in the same breath, placing her hand on the back of her neck. It’s strange, because, being a tree and all, Hurley can’t feel all that much, but it still takes her breath away with the force of how wonderful it is, to have this girl in her arms again and kiss her. Not literally though. She can’t really breathe, being a tree and all. Which probably means they can just kiss without stopping. Sweet.

She distantly wonders what this looks like from the outside, if they’re far enough in the tree that no-one can see them or if there’s two figures on the outside of the tree making out. She decides she doesn’t care and carries on kissing her tree girlfriend.

They pull back eventually and Hurley, taking a second to remember what they were even talking about, says, “Yes, love, present tense, dummy.”

“Oh,” Sloane says, sounding extremely pleased. “Good, I love you too.”

And then they make out some more.

“Hey, so. Not that I don’t love this,” Hurley says, curled up in Sloane’s arms, after— well, after some time. “But do we just… live in this tree now?”

“Maybe,” Sloane says. “But I think we deserve a bit of a rest before we figure it out.”

“That’s fair,” Hurley concedes, because the last couple of months have been a lot and also she doesn’t think she’s entirely ready to face the consequences of being the Raven’s accomplice and battlewagon partner quite yet. She stands by Sloane and is totally down to be a fantasy Bonny and Clyde, but she’s only ever dipped her toe into the life of crime, she’s not ready to make the full leap yet. A peaceful period of being a tree and making out with her tree girlfriend sounds good to her.

* * *

 She’s not sure how much time has gone by when they begin to regain some of their senses.

They can’t communicate to the outside world or move, but they can see and hear now. And what they see and hear is… surprising, to say the least.

Apparently their cherry blossom tree has become a popular spot for girls to get married. Hurley would assume that it’s down to the petals that float around in an aesthetically pleasing manner, but their vows usually include some reference to them. About undying love and sacrifices and battling through challenges together.

Hurley feels like they might be giving them too much credit but that doesn’t stop her from getting the warm fuzzies and being glad she can’t blush. Sloane would tease her, no doubt. Or maybe she would blush too.

Maybe more surprising is the visitors they get.

Merle shows up every so often. One time he comes with his kids, tells them the story with only a little embellishment and doesn’t censor the bits about him and some vines that trumatise both his daughter and them. Lucky, innocent Mookie.

Magnus shows up one time, two carved figurines in hand, a raven and a ram. Tucks them in between a gap in some roots and murmurs, “Thought you should have these.”

A tall woman in blue robes comes once, lays a hand on the trunk and says, “I’m sorry, I truly am,” with a weary sigh.

* * *

It’s ultimately very anticlimactic when they come back the life (though Hurley’s unsure if they really counted as dead). Hurley says something teasing and Sloane gives her a playful push on the shoulder and—

She falls.

It’s like when you’re walking up the stairs in the dark and you go to take a step that’s not there, except it’s way fucking weirder because she’s a goddamn tree and then she’s not.

“Huh,” she says, laying on her back at the base of the tree and staring at the blossom drifting towards her.

“Holy shit,” she hears Sloane say and then her face appears above her, peering down at her with disbelief and delight.

And then she emerges fully as well, scooping Hurley up in her arms and spinning them around.

“Is it weird,” she begins, once Sloane’s released her, “that my first instinct is to—”

“Race?” Sloane says at the same time she does and Hurley’s heart feels as though it could burst.

Being a tree was pretty chill, all things considered, and, since they’re dryads now, they’re bound to it. Hurley’s fine with that, so long as she has Sloane by her side and the ability to show everyone, once again, who the ultimate battlewagon champions are.


End file.
